Meet the Baye Fall of Senegal

F2FA June 29, 2015

Baye Fall

The Baye Fall is a Senegalese Muslim sect that is most easily identifiable by their dreadlocked hair, bright patchwork garbs, spiritual amulets, and well-known tenet of hard work. Learn more about them below.

SEE ALSO: How Hot Pepper Became a Central Condiment in African Cuisine

Keep Up With Face2Face Africa On Facebook!

While the Baye Fall are often confused with the Rastafarians of the Caribbean due to their hair, Baye Fallthe Baye Fall harken back to the year 1883, when founder Amadou Bamba Mbacke founded the Mouride Brotherhood.

The Baye Fall would be named after “fierce” disciple Ibrahima Fall (pictured below) who is known as the “architect” of the sect’s philosophies of sustainable economics.

Ibrahim Fall

As the story has been told, when Ibrahim Fall would come to one of the areas that he would later establish for his people, he noticed that they spent most of their time praying and fasting. Ibrahim Fall would soon promulgate that working for the Serigne Toube and Amadou Bamba Mbacke is a higher level of prayer and devotion.

That decree — including humility — would serve as one of those key principles of Baye Fall’s emphasis on physical labor.

Consequently, in addition to working on farms, the Baye Fall have established a number of textile, metal, and carpentry workshops, which employs nearly 5,000 people from a number of different villages about an hour from Dakar.

Yaye Fall

Yaye Fall (the women of Baye Fall)

Serigne (Holy One) Abdoul Aziz Fall is the grandchild of Serigne Ibrahima Fall and the current holy leader of the movement. Of his standing and place in the movement, Abdoul Fall explains, “I was born in it, inherited it, and am also a follower of it.”

Shedding more light on the precepts of the Baye Fall, Abdoul Fall says, “Our command is also the way of Serigne Touba, which is also the way of Ibrahim Fall. It is the same way of life that you see on the farms today. It’s all about educating the people in the way of Islam: hard work, perseverance, and discipline and giving your heart and services to the people.

“The serignes are the living legacies of the founder of sect and the people charged with continuing the work of grandfathers of the Baye Fall movement.”

Baye Fall

Baye Fall

Credit: Laylah Amatullah Barrayn

bayefall4

Baye Fall

As for their hair, Leader Ibrahima Fall reportedly wore dreadlocks in the flattened-lock style that many present-day followers wear today.

Baye Fall

Credit: Laylah Amatullah Barrayn

The Baye Fall aren’t all work in no play, though. They are also known for a vibrant art and music scene that combines reggae instrumentation with traditional drumming and singing.

Today, one can visit the final resting places of Amadou Bamba and Ibrahima Fall in the holy city of Touba, Senegal’s second-largest city.

Watch a video on the Baye Fall here:

 

 

SEE ALSO: Meet My People, the Sara of Chad

Last Edited by:Abena Agyeman-Fisher Updated: June 29, 2015

Conversations

Must Read

Connect with us

Join our Mailing List to Receive Updates